Charlie Sheen said in a new interview this week that he wishes he hadn’t waited so long to publicly announce that he is HIV-positive. He also admitted to being angry at himself.
Surprisingly, Sheen made the comments in The National Enquirer, the tabloid that published a story about his diagnosis. It turns out that their story was correct, forcing Sheen to go on The Today Show last month to tell the world that he is HIV-positive. The former Two and a Half Men star said that he has spent up to $10 million trying to keep the diagnosis a secret over the past four years.
“I’m really clear, really good, positively focused,” Sheen told the Enquirer, over a month after the Today appearance. “It was such a tremendous weight lifted off my shoulders when I made the announcement. I realized afterward, I wish I had possibly done it sooner. As we’ll discuss, there were a lot of different elements in the mix that prevented me from doing that.”
Sheen said that he “didn’t realize the weight I was carrying... until it was relieved.” After he received the diagnosis, he was angry and himself and the world. On the second day, he told his mother, “This disease picked the wrong guy.” Since then, he’s been on a search for a cure.
The actor said that he never considered suicide after the diagnosis. Instead, he hopes to turn his diagnosis into a positive by continuing to tell his story. He suggested that he was destined to become famous to help raise awareness of HIV.
“It makes me take pause and ponder the concept that perhaps everything that led up to this was to gain the spotlight of popularity to finally deliver a message that truly matters,” Sheen said. “I’m grateful for everything I’ve been able to do in life. I’ve made a lot of people laugh and see the world differently through me. Now, maybe it’s time to change the world.”
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